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L.I.R.R. Freight Operation Criticized in Levitt Report

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February 7, 1972, Page 61 The New York Times Archives

ALBANY, Feb. 6 — State Controller Arthur Levitt said today that there was “a need for more effective management and closer supervision of the Long Island Rail Road freight operations.”

Mr. Levitt, noting that the railroad's freight operations in 1970 lost $10.1‐million despite the $10A‐million it received in gross revenues, said “ample opportunities are available for reducing costs” of the line's cargo business. He also noted that since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority purchased the L.I.R.R. in 1966, the line's freight‐operation deficit had almost doubled.

The Controller said that the railroad had hired “various consultants” to evaluate its freight operations, One recommended that freight service be discontinued, another that it be curtailed, Mr. Levitt said. “However,” he added, “no reductions in operations were made.”

In an audit report, the Controller said that the line's 326 miles of track were inefficiently used for freight. He said that 39 per cent of the trackage accounted for about 3 per cent of the freight volume.

“There is also a need,” the Controller said, “for better controls over the processing of claims, better security at the at terminals, and excessive time major freight yards, and improved business practices in the disposal of salvage.”

In New York City a spokesman for the railroad said that Mr. Levitt's examination had been conducted a year ago and that many of his recommendations had been adopted already. New management procedures have been introduced, the spokesman said, and greater security precautions are now taken to thwart theft and vandalism.

However, the spokesman said, the railroad's freight operations are inherently inefficient because of the nature of the short‐run hauls, not because of poor management. The railroad incurs high costs because most of its cargo is brought in to Long Island but little is sent out, he said, creating a less than fully productive use of trains.

The spokesman said Mr. Levitt was unfair to speak of inefficient use of tracks, because freight accounts for only 10 per cent of the railroad's work.

Costs are high, the, spokesman added, because the trains have to switch tracks often and this requires more personnel to handle the trains.

A version of this archives appears in print on February 7, 1972, on Page 61 of the New York edition with the headline: L.I.R.R. Freight Operation Criticized in Levitt Report. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe